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Gildas David McDowell was born April 26, 1924 in Morgantown, West Virginia.
The family of six boys and one girl made it through the depression by
hard work and very frugal sharing.
On Sunday morning, December 7, 1941 our lives changed. My two older
brothers joined the Army Air Corps right away. After I finished high school I took some
special aviation math classes until November 2, 1942, when I joined the Army Air Corps
also.
After completing basic training I was sent to a special school for
mechanics to work on the highly classified Norton (Norden)? Bombsite. When I learned
the service needed aircraft pilots, I requested such an assignment.
I trained on the PT-17 (Steersman bi-wing), which was the
first time I was ever in a plane. After 9 hours I soloed then took basic
training in the BT-13, then the advanced trainer AT-6. I got my silver wings
and 2nd Lt. Bars on February 8, 1944, then to P-47 high altitude formation for
escorting bombers & simulated dogfights. During on training dogfight I collided
with the other P-47 and cut it in two. My prop was wrapped around the engine
cowling so I could not return to home base. I saw a nearby cow pasture and
landed there with wheels up. I went to the farmhouse, which fortunately had
a telephone, and called the base to tell them about the accident and where I
was. The other pilot had bailed out and survived the crash.
I was shipped to England and assigned to the 8th Air
Force in a pilot replacement group until after the invasion on June 6, 1944.
On July 3 I was assigned to the 371st fighter group, 405th squadron. Our
missions were all in close support of ground forces, tanks and infantry lines,
to stop any supplies coming to the German forces.
On October 14, 1944 we were sent deep into German-held
areas of France to locate and destroy any transportation, mainly trains. On
my 42nd mission we found a very long freight train sitting out in the open.
As standard operating procedure two of us dropped down to check it out for
protection. When we strafed at high speed, I saw no sign of protection. In
such cases we would then take turns going down to shoot it up at slow speeds.
But as I lined up to start my strafing run I was surprised
to see the boxcar doors opening up and the roofs of some boxcars also open.
In no time it was clear we had flown into an anti-aircraft trap. I saw many
balls of fire coming at me. The first hit was directly into my engine, then
one in the right wing. I continued strafing until I passed over them. Then
we headed back to friendly territory. Oil and smoke were blowing back over
my aircraft. The oil pressure dropped to zero and the cylinder head temp went
up to the peg. I climbed to 7,000 feet but could not catch up with the rest.
Any time I advanced my power, the engine would vibrate violently. I figured
that my prop had been severely damaged. After about 20 minutes my engine froze.
I had no choice but to bail out.
I landed at the edge of some woods and could see soldiers
were running up the hill towards me. I ran into the woods and hid under a brush
pile. A few hours later I heard barking dogs approaching so I ran out the far
side of the woods. But by this time they had the area surrounded; so I became
a prisoner of war. I was taken to a small town below the hill. That afternoon,
a German Air Force Major came in and told me, "You are now my prisoner." He
told me that these soldiers had no jail to hold me so they would have had to
turn me over to the Gestapo. He said that rather than allow that to happen,
he would see that I got to a Luftwaffe prison camp (stalagluft). I was sent
to Frankfurt for interrogation, than on to Poland to Stalagulf III.
In addition to the lack of food, one of the main
problems was that there was no fuel to heat the barracks, so we kept
out clothes on all the time, with no way to wash them. A by-product
of this practice was the company of lice and fleas.
We knew we had very little chance to escape and
return to Allied forces. The German guards were former aircrew members
now too old and disabled to fly anymore. They informed us that Hitler
had ordered all P.O.W.'s to be disposed of so that out guards could
help fight the Russians. They said they would not kill us because
they knew they were losing the war.
We stashed away everything to eat that we could spare;
we cooked chocolate bars and powdered milk with raisins or dried fruit
from the Red Cross parcels. Then on one of the coldest nights in German
history, we were ordered to pack whatever we could carry and prepare to
leave, as the Russians were approaching. It was 20 below zero when we
set out in a heavy snowstorm. We walked for 3 ½ days and stopped one
night in a church for rest. The church was so crowded that very few
people had room to lie down. On the second night most of us were squeezed
into a couple of barns. The third night was sent on the concrete floors
of a factory. Finally we arrived at a train station and were put into boxcars.
When the Russians were advancing into the area, we were
moved to Moosberg Germany, Luft 7A, where I was to stay until we were
released by Patton's Third Army. I returned to the U.S. June 1945. After
returning to the US I was assigned to Tinker AB, Oklahoma in a group of
18 pilots to go all over the U.S. collecting aircrafts no longer being
used. We flew them to the depot at Tinker. They removed all the equipment
that could be used on other aircrafts; we then flew them to Arizona to
be stored in the desert until sold to other countries or cut up and
sold as scrap. During this assigned to Randolph AFB as an Instructor Pilot.
In the training command, training student pilots in
the AT-6, 2381 hours IP time, plus 184 hours formation time. Navigation
training in T-29s 438 IP time, 726 hours pilot time, 334 command pilot
time.
Flying from Harlingen Airbase at times over water to FLA
and Bermuda and Return. Next I went to Asiya, Japan during the Korean War in
C-119 "Boxcars," taking people and equipment in and out of various based. 192
hours I.P., 183.0 copilots, 42 hours command pilot. Then back to Waco, TX.
Training radar interceptors in B-255 Bombers, 87 hours.
I then went to Alb rook Airbase in the Panama Canal
Zone flying C-118s, collecting data for aeronautical charts (maps), going
to the entire Copilot, then back to Waco, TX James Connally Airbase. I
was assigned to the instrument instruction school, training instructor
pilots on updated techniques on instrument flying in T-29, and T-39
Jets, 217 pilot 125 I.P. 72 hours C.P. Then during the Pueblo capturing
and the following big excitement, I was rushed to Kunson A.B. as Vice
Base Commander for 13 men.
I then went to Altus, Oklahoma to check out in
C-141 (4-engine jet). Then assigned to Travis AFB, California, flying
missions in the Pacific area. Hawaii, Philippines, and Vietnam, taking
personnel and equipment into and out of various bases in Vietnam. Total
C-141 time: 368 hours pilot, 306 hours co pilot, combat 37 hours and 20
hours combat support.
I retired February 4th, 1972, a LtCo., with high
blood pressure and a multitude of other physical problems.
My total flight time 7822.0 hours
Other aircraft in addition to those above:
P-51, T-38, C-45, C-47, C-131, C-54, PQ-14, U6, L-4 and L-5.
Total aircraft: 23 during time assigned to Ferry Duty at Tinker Field, Oklahoma - June 1947 - January 1948
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